Since Bob Stoops took over in 1999, Oklahoma has been one of the programs who consistently gets better throughout a season.
Yes, 2014 happened, but in 2005 and 2009, the Sooners, despite eight-win seasons, got better in each game. It looks to be the same in 2020.
Oklahoma is streaking. The Sooners have won five-straight games and are on the verge of defending their five-straight Big 12 Championships after suffering early season upsets to Kansas State and Iowa State.
They are getting better, too. Since the quadruple overtime win over Texas, Oklahoma was won each game by at least 28 points, including a thrashing of Oklahoma State last Saturday. This is aided by the return of star defensive end Ronnie Perkins and starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
One prominent national college football talking head has taken notice: Kirk Herbstreit.
“I’m telling ya, this is a different Oklahoma team at this point in the season,” he said during Bedlam last Saturday. “A younger team without some key players like Stevenson and Perkins that had leads on Kansas State in the fourth-quarter and Iowa State. Unable to hold onto those leads, but you don’t want to play the Sooners right now.
“I think this is a more complete team than the teams that have won the Big 12 and gone to the playoffs. More complete team because of the way they’re playing defense this year with Alex Grinch and late in the year. I think those teams that have gone in the past and many times gotten exposed in the Playoff, they were a great offense, but it didn’t have a defense. I think this team has a better defensive front. They have got some experience in the secondary and I think now that your young quarterback is growing up and he has so many different weapons … I don’t know, it just feels like a complete team.”
High praise from Kirk Herbstreit.
"You don't want to play the Sooners right now."
"I think this is a more complete team than the teams that have won the Big 12 and gone to the playoffs. Because of the way they're playing defense this year."#OUDNA | #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/mBh1OIhXzQ
— Sooner Gridiron (@soonergridiron) November 23, 2020
He would go onto highlight a guy like Perrion Winfrey, a defensive tackle like Oklahoma hasn’t had since Jordan Phillips in 2014.
Herbstreit didn’t hide from this take either: he doubled down on it three days later when talking about teams who are playing the best right now.
“I would use Oklahoma as an example of that right now,” he said Tuesday night on SportsCenter prior to the College Football Playoff rankings show. “They’re in the Big 12. They lost a couple games. Everybody was like, ‘Ah, they’re done. Forget about them.’ And all the sudden, man, since the Texas game they’re building momentum like crazy. And right now you look at an OU and you’re like, ‘Man, OU could be on the field with about anybody right now and be OK and compete.
“I think OU is better right now at this point in the season than they have been when they had Baker (Mayfield) or Kyler Murray or last year with Jalen Hurts because they’re a more complete team. But that’s just watching games. You couldn’t have predicted that four weeks ago. But if you watch and you allow these teams to show you what you can do, you can make that evaluation. And that’s just using Oklahoma as an example.”
Here are Kirk Herbstreit’s comments on Oklahoma on SportsCenter prior to the College Football Playoff rankings show where he says this team is playing better right now than OU did with Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray or Jalen Hurts at quarterback: #Sooners pic.twitter.com/E3QwnQkeJE
— Kegan Reneau (@KeganReneau) November 25, 2020
Oklahoma was postponed this week due to a COVID-19 issue within the football program. The Sooners’ game against West Virginia is now scheduled for Dec. 12. Oklahoma will play next Saturday against Baylor at home.
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